Our first order of business was getting new concrete slabs poured - this took place in the middle of April and was completed by Hardcore Construction (Snowflake, AZ). Here are some before pictures from early in the project.
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Watching the guys work, prepping the area and building the frames was the height of quarantine entertainment for the family. My parents, who had planned to only spend a couple months in AZ during the winter, have extended their stay through mid-June due to not wanting to travel during the Covid-19 pandemic. We have RV sites right next to each other and they have been helping us with the kids and the land project since we have been here.
And then there were slabs!
Back in November 2019 - we took delivery of a new steel building (SteelMaster) at our site in Mesa. Taking delivery of these buildings is an adventure. This was the second time we had one delivered - our first was delivered to the land. This time a semi pulled right up to our lot in Mesa!
You then work with the driver to unload your building. Though it may not appear to be much, the pieces are awkward and heavy and there are a lot of them! We unloaded into the driveway and then loaded most of the pieces into our cargo trailer for storage. Anyhow, when we moved to the mountains we moved the cargo trailer with the new building. In April and early May we were finally able to construct it on the new slab!
The first step is to drill holes in the new foundation with a hammer drill we rented from Home Depot.
You put anchor bolts into the newly drilled holes in order to secure the base plates to the foundation.
Then we unloaded the cargo trailer (yeah! we have our cargo trailer back!!) and started putting together the first arch.
Next, you raise the first arch and secure it to the base plate. The first arch is not very stable until a second one is raised and attached to it. There was no time for pictures between the first and second arches!
We raised the first two using ladders, but it was clear that scaffolding was the way to go! So after a trip to Home Depot (rented it for a week) we were back to raising arches!
So. many. bolts.
And we put in a turbine/whirly... which meant cutting the steel - that took some time...
And more arches...
And then the arches were done and it was time to add end wall panels
And this is how the building looks at present. We still have to cut the last two corner panels, but we don't want to put those up until the front of the building is done (which will be completed by a contractor - they are installing a garage door). The weather has been beautiful in terms of temperature, but the sun is brutal! Also, it gets fairly windy in the high desert.
We are SUPER thankful for all the help my parents were able to provide! This new building will hold all of our water works, electrical components, and garage stuff. In the meantime we are collecting all of the needed components for our water and solar system.
Each evening we have been walking around the RV park - here is a pretty picture taken when the irrigation water was running.
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